William Faulkner constructed "A Rose for Emily by using plot devices to shape the story and keep readers interested in the story. The strangeness of Emily's behavior becomes evident through the use of foreshadowing, extended flashbacks, and suspense.
These three devices provide the momentum to continue reading to the end.
Homer Barron was thought to be Emily's future husband. Unfortunately for Emily, Homer was not the marrying type. The townspeople knew that he did not want to get married, that he hanging out with the young men. The major foreshadowing came when Homer was last seen going in to Emily's house through the kitchen door. He was never seen again. Then came the horrible smell from Emily's property that her neighbors complained about, but then seemed to disappear shortly after some men in town spread lime over the yard and in the basement. The final foreshadowing event when Emily bought arsenic at the pharmacy for no apparent reason. .
According to the townspeople, bizarre behavior ran in Emily's family. The flashbacks to her father's behavior and death are a testament to her behavior. Her father scared away any gentlemen that called on Emily. After Emily's father died, it took her days for her to realize that he was dead. When people came to offer condolences or to bury the body, Emily said that he was still alive. After she did accept her father's death, she fell in to depression for sometime after. Her father's funeral was swift as to not disturb Emily anymore then she was. She clung to her father who had robbed her of being wanted by other men. .
The foreshadowing and the flashbacks coupled with the suspense brought Emily's bizarre life and behavior in to light for the town. After Emily died, a few of the townspeople went in to Emily's house. In the upstairs master bedroom, they found the corpse of Homer Barron. There was men's clothing and silver toilet set Emily had made for Homer.